![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ybZpbdPWUEDURKPiCVQDQT.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Pieces of sea ice drift near Antarctica’s Danger Islands in this image, acquired on Jan. 22, 2023, by the\u00a0Landsat 8 satellite. Several of the islands are stained pink by guano from Ad\u00e9lie penguins with a krill-rich diet. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory\/Michala Garrison)<\/p>\n
The diets of penguins on Antarctica’s Danger Islands can be seen from space. At least indirectly.<\/p>\n
Using satellite images captured by the Landsat 8 spacecraft operated by NASA and the United States Geological Survey, scientists can track changes in Ad\u00e9lie penguins’ diets based on the color of their guano, or droppings.<\/p>\n
What is it?<\/p>\n The image above shows pinkish-orange guano staining large sections of some of the Danger Islands, Hero\u00edna Island and Beagle Island. The penguins that live there eat a diet rich in krill, small marine crustaceans that are bright pink in color due to a specific type of algae upon which they feed.<\/p>\n \n A group of Adelie penguins jumping from ice pebble to ice pebble on a beach of Paulet Island on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. (Image credit: Wolfgang Kaehler\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The bright pink color of the penguins’ droppings stands out in satellite imagery, allowing researchers to monitor the birds’ populations from space. But scientists wanted a closer look, and collected drone imagery as well, as seen in the image below.<\/p>\n \n A colony of Ad\u00e9lie penguins is visible in this image captured by a drone during a research expedition to the Danger Islands. (Image credit: Thomas Sayre-McCord\/WHOI\/MIT)Why is it incredible?<\/p>\n It’s pretty amazing that the diet of a specific population of birds can be monitored from 438 miles (705 kilometers)<\/a> above Earth’s surface. The imagery collected by Landsat-8 helped scientists locate where the penguin colonies might be, allowing them to find them in-person and collect guano samples. Those samples contained evidence of what the penguins were eating over time.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Researchers are using those satellite images and samples to track how the penguins’ diet might be affected by changes in sea ice conditions, according to a NASA statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n